Ride from Cascade Montana To The Smith River

Welcome To The Ride from Cascade Montana To The Smith River Tour

See the panoramic views as you ride east from Cascade, Montana to the world famous fly fishing destination, the Eden Bridge on the Smith River. As we bounce down the Cascade Hound Creek Road, look north towards the town of Cascade, Montana (below) Can you see “Crown Butte” and “Square Butte” on the horizon? “Square Butte” is the symmetrical “table mountain” on the right (look over the Yellow “Balsam Root” flowers). “Crown Butte” is to the left of “Square Butte” in the panorama. Below is a January close-up of Square Butte located west of Great Falls, Montana.

The View North

Square Butte in January

October

Square Butte

(Above) The first view of the Smith River from the Upper Millegan Road east of Cascade, Montana. The Montana Fish and Game Commission designated the Smith River as a State Recreational Waterway in 1969. By 1980, only about 1,400 individuals floated the river each year, 87 percent of them putting-in at Camp Baker. After national media attention was focused on the area, the number of floaters increased dramatically during the 1980’s. A record number of floaters (2,395) used the Smith River in 1989. This was an increase of 63.8 percent over the 1988 level (1,462 floaters).

(Below) View the Smith River in the first week of June. The water is high and muddy.

(Above) The Eden Bridge parking lot. Thankfully the river traffic has been kept manageable thanks to the implementation of the Stage 3 management plan in 1991. Float groups are limited to no more than 15 individuals per group (including commercial outfitter staff), and required everyone—no matter where they put-in—to make a boat camp designation if they spent the night on the river. A total of 3,604 users floated on the Smith River in 1993, 246.5 percent more than floated the river when the management plan came into force in 1988. An all-time high of 4,771 floaters hit the river in 1997. The Smith River saw 4,607 total users in 2016. (All information from Wikipedia)

(Below) View the Eden Bridge over the Smith River in the first week of June.

(Above) The view Eden Bridge on the Smith River in October. Make the time to float the 59 mile stretch of the Smith River from Camp Baker to Eden Bridge. It is so worth the effort. Here is the link to apply for a Smith River Float Permit.